Manchester City defeated Newcastle United 4-0 to ensure they spends Christmas at the top of the Premier League. A defensive mistake leaving Ruben Dias completely unmarked allowed the visitors to draw one back after 5 minutes. Cancelo added a second in the 27th minute, cut the right wing and ended the single with a brilliant shot to silence the hosts.
Newcastle was given a gift! The referee suspiciously awarded a penalty for 27 minutes into the football match. “I’m not sure what happened with VAR and the referee, the goalkeeper clears Ryan and it’s a stone wall, a clear penalty,” said Newcastle manager Eddie Howe.
Things got worse for Newcastle when Riyad Mahrez returned home with a deflected goal in the 63rd minute from a cross from the left by Kevin de Bruyne and scored his 50th Premier League goal after a lengthy VAR analysis. “When I saw the defender running with me, I was pretty sure I was in the game, so I didn’t think I was offside,” Mahrez said.
Newcastle introduced Allan Saint-Maximin on the bench for Joe Willock, but he managed to keep his cool and beat the goalkeeper to make the score 1–0, which was well executed by Willock. Raheem Sterling netted the decisive goal in the 86th minute for a match score of 4-0.
Manchester City is ahead on 44 points, four points ahead of second-placed Liverpool, who visit Tottenham Hotspur later on Sunday, and third-placed six ahead of Chelsea, who drew 0-0 with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Newcastle finished second with 10 points, and City manager Pep Guardiola thought they contributed to their downfall.
